Box office: Captain America continues to surge at home and abroad, while Last Days in the Desert has a so-so opening

Superheroes fighting each other continued to dominate the box office this week, while a tiny film about Jesus had an underwhelming debut on a handful of screens.

Last Days in the Desert, which opened in only eight theatres, earned an estimated $12,600 between Friday and Sunday, for a per-screen average of $1,575.

That’s the weakest first-weekend average of the year’s Bible-themed films so far. The previous lowest was the $1,871 that The Young Messiah opened to in March.

Turning to more mainstream fare, Captain America: Civil War raked in another $72.6 million in its second week — a drop of about 59.5% from last week’s gross.

That’s on par with the second-weekend drops for the last two films that featured Iron Man, i.e. Iron Man 3 (58.4% drop) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (59.4% drop).

Captain America: Civil War has earned $295.9 million in North America and another $645 million overseas, for a global total of $940.9 million. The film is currently behind ten other Marvel movies in North America — including this year’s Deadpool — but worldwide it ranks fourth, behind only Iron Man 3 and the two Avengers films.

The only major new release this week was Money Monster, a sort of satirical thriller about Wall Street and the media starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’Connell, which grossed $15 million and ranked third for the weekend.

The film was directed by Jodie Foster and had easily the best opening of the four films she has directed, beating the $4 million Home for the Holidays made in 1995.

The Darkness, a micro-budgeted horror film, also earned $5.2 million on American screens (it did not come out in Canada), which was good enough for fourth place.

Meanwhile, in other box-office news…

The Jungle Book grossed $17.8 million and ranked second in its fifth week, thereby raising its domestic cume of $311.8 million. The film has earned another $516.3 million overseas for a global total of $828.1 million.

Zootopia grossed $2.8 million and ranked sixth in its eleventh week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $331.8 million. The film has earned another $638 million overseas for a global total of $969.8 million — still the year’s best worldwide, though Captain America will almost certainly pass it within the next few days.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed $535,000 and ranked 14th in its eighth week, thereby raising its domestic total to $328.2 million — which is still not yet double the $166 million that the film made in its first weekend.

Batman v Superman has earned another $540.6 million overseas for a global total of $868.8 million — well under the billion-dollar mark the studio was aiming for.

There were no estimates for Miracles from Heaven or God’s Not Dead 2.

Now for a bit of extra data on Zootopia’s ranking among animated films:

In North America, the film still ranks ninth:

• 2004 — Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) — $441.2 million
• 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $422.8 million
• 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $415.0 million
• 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $400.7 million
• 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $380.8 million
• 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $368.1 million
• 2015 — Inside Out (Pixar) — $356.5 million
• 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $336 million
• 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $331.8 million
• 2007 — Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) — $322.7 million

Overseas, the film still ranks sixth:

• 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $875.7 million
• 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $823.4 million
• 2012 — Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox) — $715.9 million
• 2009 — Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) — $690.1 million
• 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $648.2 million
• 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $638 million
• 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $602.7 million
• 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $564.7 million
• 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $555.9 million
• 2012 — Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (DreamWorks) — $530.5 million

And worldwide, the film still ranks sixth:

• 2013 — Frozen (Disney) — $400.7 + 875.7 = 1276.5 million
• 2015 — Minions (Universal) — $336.0 + 823.4 = 1159.4 million
• 2010 — Toy Story 3 (Pixar) — $415.0 + 648.2 = 1063.2 million
• 1994 — The Lion King (Disney) — $422.8 + 564.7 = 987.5 million
• 2013 — Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $368.1 + 602.7 = 970.8 million
• 2016 — Zootopia (Disney) — $331.8 + 638.0 = 969.8 million
• 2003 — Finding Nemo (Pixar) — $380.8 + 555.9 = 936.7 million
• 2004 — Shrek 2 (DreamWorks) — $441.2 + 478.6 = 919.8 million
• 2009 — Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Fox) — $196.6 + 690.1 = 886.7 million
• 2012 — Ice Age: Continental Drift (Fox) — $161.3 + 715.9 = 877.2 million

And now for a bit of extra data on the “faith-based” and biblical films:

Miracles from Heaven still ranks fifth among “faith-based” films:

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million
• 2014 — Heaven Is for Real — $91.4 million
• 2015 — War Room — $67.8 million
• 2014 — God’s Not Dead — $60.8 million
• 2016 — Miracles from Heaven — $60.2 million
• 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million
• 2011 — Soul Surfer — $43.9 million
• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million
• 2016 — Risen — $36.9 million
• 2011 — Courageous — $34.5 million

Meanwhile, Risen still ranks eighth among recent Bible-themed films:

• 2004 — The Passion of the Christ — $370.8 million
• 1998 — The Prince of Egypt — $101.4 million
• 2014 — Noah — $101.2 million
• 2014 — Exodus: Gods and Kings — $65 million
• 2014 — Son of God — $59.7 million
• 2009 — Year One — $43.3 million
• 2006 — The Nativity Story — $37.6 million
• 2016 — Risen — $36.9 million
• 1981 — History of the World, Part I — $31.7 million
• 2016 — Hail, Caesar! — $30.1 million
• 2002 — Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie — $25.6 million
• 1979 — Monty Python’s Life of Brian — $20 million
• 1980 — Wholly Moses! — $14.2 million
• 2006 — One Night with the King — $13.4 million
• 1988 — The Last Temptation of Christ — $8.4 million
• 2016 — The Young Messiah — $6.5 million
• 1985 — King David — $5.1 million
• 2003 — The Gospel of John — $4.1 million
• 2015 — Last Days in the Desert — $12,600